Improvement in clothes-pounders



O. F. K. WILSON. Clothes-Founder.

No. 213,962 Patented April I, 1879.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. WILSON, OF SEYMOUR, IOWA.

IMPROVEMENT IN CLOTHES-POUNDERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 213,962, dated April 1, 1879; application filed December 12, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES F. K. WILsoN, of Seymour, in the county of \Vayne and State of Iowa, have invented a new and Improved Ulothes -Washer, of which the following is a specification:

The object of this invention is to furnish a device for washing clothes by the action of a body or bodies of air employed to drive the suds through the clothes, and thus enable them to be cleansed without rubbing.

It consists of adouble conical vessel divided by an interior diaphragm into two parts, and with vertical partitions dividing the lower part into several chambers or compartments. In the center of the diaphragm is an aperture covered by a valve, which opens into a small chamber, and this in turn is connected with the exterior by pipes, the whole operating in a manner that will be fully described hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improvement, and Fig. 2 is a bottom view or plan of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the lower part of the washer, which, is the frustum ot' a cone, and B is the upper part, the two being joined together, and separated or divided into the two parts by an interior diaphragm, O. The lower part is divided up by vertical partitions a into several chambers or compartments,D, of the fulldcpth of this lower part.

In the middle of the diaphragm is an aperture, b, which opens into a small chamber, E, the casing whereof is built on the diaphragm in the upper part, B. The aperture is covered by a circular valve, 0, resting upon a seat, (1, formed by cutting out the inner rounded ends of the partitions a, sufficient space being left between the seat and the diaphragm to allow the valve to play up and down to close and open the aperture.

From the chamber E proceed upward pipes or tubes, represented by e e, and pass through the outer casing of part B, and thus give communication from chamber E to the exterior.

From the top of the casing of chamber E extends upward a socket, F, projecting through the top of part B, and into this is entered a handle, G, with which the device is operated. Chambers D are air-chambers.

The operation of my improvement is as follows The wash-tub being filled with the clothes and suds, the washer is put in the tub, with the bottom edge resting on the clothes. It is then worked up and down, the chambers D being filled with air that cannot escape, as the valve 0 closes when the device is forced down, and this air in the said chambers, acting on the suds, drives them through the clothes.

When the device is moved upward the valve 0 opens, and the air rushes from the exterior through pipes e e to chamber E, thence through aperture 11 and into chambers D, thus filling said chamber, and preventing suction and resistance to the movement of the device.

By moving the washer up and down a number of times, (this can be done without much labor, as it is light and there is no resistance,) the clothing is thoroughly washed, as the foreing of the suds through the clothes is found very efficient in cleansing them. In addition, the clothing is saved from the wear and tear of rubbing, and the labor of washing is much lightened.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- A clothes-washer in which an air-chamber, E, is connected byaloose valve, d, with a topapertured subjacent chamber, whose partitions serve both to support the valve and prevent the rise of the clothes, as shown and described.

CHARLES FRANK KENDRICK WILSON.

Witnesses:

E. J. BROWN, J. L. STRIOKLER. 

